An archaeological investigation of local Aboriginal responses to European colonisation in the South Australian Riverland via an assessment of culturally modified trees

This paper explores the individuality and spatial uniqueness of culturally modified trees (CMTs) in the South Australian Riverland to provide new understandings about local Aboriginal responses to European colonisation. As a result of this study 89 CMTs with 99 scars were located and recorded within the floodplain on Calperum Station which can now be monitored and protected for the future. Shield/dish type scars were the most frequent scar types (60%), followed by canoe scars (19%), shelter material or mybkoo scars (4%) and European shingle scars (2%). The remaining 15% of scars were the result of resource procurement. Through an analysis of scar attributes, species-specific trends were illuminated that tell a distinctive local narrative of bark use in the Riverland. We conclude that there was an adaptation of local bark procurement strategies, favouring black box (Eucalyptus largiflorens) bark, as opposed to bark from red gum trees (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), after a period of sustained European entanglement in the area. Despite this shift, red gum trees remained the target for canoe bark. These trends, when considered in conjunction with the ethnohistoric record of bark use in the region, highlight the continuity in the cultural use of bark by Aboriginal people in the Riverland region, albeit with new technology and transformed procurement strategies which occurred in response to the rapid changes brought by European invasion and settlement.